


frosted passion

by sormikleo



Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Community - Freeform, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Loneliness, M/M, Reflection, Snow, Snowfall, Sormik Week 2018, there are characters other than sorey and mikleo but they only show up briefly, they build a snowman
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-13
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-06-15 09:06:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15409632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sormikleo/pseuds/sormikleo
Summary: The team gets caught in the snow on the way to Elysia for a visit and decide to take a detour to the inn at Ladylake. Sorey and Mikleo have fun in the snow, and Sorey thinks about their past and how becoming the Shepherd has changed them both.Written for Sormik Week 2018 Day 2Prompt: Loneliness/Community, Snowfall





	frosted passion

**Author's Note:**

> first time participating in sormik week! yay!

“One room, please!”

 

Gratefully accepting a key to their room at the inn, Sorey nodded in appreciation and made his way down the hallway. They had been traveling to visit Elysia when it started to snow.

 

They went as far as they could until the snow came to be too much, and they decided that they would just stop at Ladylake for one night before going the rest of the way. It was just too cold, and their faces had started to feel numb.

 

Sorey and Mikleo tried to stop multiple times, kneeling down to scoop up snowballs and pitch them toward each other. Their fun and games were quickly put to a stop when Mikleo accidentally hit Edna with one. He even received a new nickname: Dickleo. It was the worst one yet, in his opinion.

 

Mikleo was currently holding his arms around himself, gripping onto Sorey’s Shepherd cloak, which Sorey had so kindly offered to him when he noticed that the water seraph was shivering. Sorey unlocked the door to their room, and they all shuffled inside.

 

Almost immediately, Rose collapsed onto the bed that was closest to the door and let out a loud yawn. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m exhausted. The warmth after being so cold really makes me want to go to sleep...” She closed her eyes.

 

“Hey! Weren’t we going to go out and actually enjoy the snow since we’re not traveling anymore? It would be such a shame if we didn’t...” Sorey called out, looking a bit disappointed at the sight of everyone’s skeptical face.

 

“You can. But I’m going to sleep.” Rose pushed her legs underneath the comforter then pulled it up to her shoulders, rolling onto her side.

 

Sorey looked at the seraphim, other than Mikleo, who was standing behind him and peering over his shoulder. “What about you guys?”

 

“I’m still cold,” Edna said blankly, putting her closed umbrella down on the edge of the unoccupied bed and taking a seat with her arms crossed.

 

“I think we all just need a rest,” Lailah said with a bit of a laugh. Seraphim didn’t have a need to sleep, but traveling could make anyone feel tired.

 

“And I’d rather just stay here with the ladies,” Zaveid commented, plopping onto the bed next to Edna.

 

”Gross,” the earth seraph added.

 

Sorey frowned and opened his mouth but was stopped by Mikleo’s fingers wrapping around his wrist and giving it a small tug. “I’ll go with you.”

 

Sorey turned his head abruptly, furrowing his eyebrows. “Are you sure? You were pretty cold out there.”

 

“I’ll be fine. I’ve been dying to build a snowman,” Mikleo admitted before giving a nod to Lailah and turning to walk out of the room.

 

A huge grin stretched across Sorey’s face as he quickly followed Mikleo out. Almost as soon as they got out of the inn, Mikleo stopped.

 

“I should give this back to you,” Mikleo told him, reaching his hands up to unclasp the Shepherd’s cloak. “It’s unfair of me to keep it this long.”

 

“No!” Sorey said a bit too loudly, causing a couple of confused pedestrians to glance over at him and wonder why he was yelling at himself. He smiled at them awkwardly and gave a small wave before turning back to Mikleo. “Keep it on. I don’t need it.”

 

“But Sorey-“

 

“You look adorable in it anyways.”

 

Mikleo felt heat rising up his neck and onto his cheeks and darted his eyes away from Sorey. He looked down to his shoes, allowing his bangs to hide his flushing skin and curling his fingers up against the fabric of the cloak. “Shut up.”

 

Their relationship was a bit confusing. They both knew their feelings for each other, and their bond was definitely very strong, but they hadn’t really acted on those feelings. Other than the day when Mikleo had told him his true name for the very first time, they never spoke about it. They spent all of their time together and definitely acted more like a couple than anyone else did, but it didn’t go much further than that, so when Sorey said things like that, Mikleo’s heart felt like it was going the pound out of his chest.

 

Sorey smiled softly at the sight of Mikleo blushing at his words and gently moved the water seraph’s hands away so he could clasp the cloak back together for him. “You’re smaller than me, and I radiate more body heat. You should have some more layers than me.”

 

“I’m not that much smaller,” Mikleo grumbled, uncurling his fingers and allowing his hands to rest at his sides.

 

Sorey hummed in response, unable to stop from smiling. “Let’s go then.”

 

The two boys proceeded to walk out of Ladylake without another word. They found themselves outside of the bridge and deemed it the perfect place for some fun in the snow. The snow in Elysia was beautiful, but something about it here was different. The lake outside of the town had turned ice, and the air was chilling to the bone. After only a few minutes of being outside, the pale skin on Mikleo’s cheeks and nose had started to turn a light pink.

 

“Wow...” Sorey breathed out. He hadn’t really had the chance to take it all in before. They were in such a rush to get to the inn that they hadn’t stopped to see the view.

 

“It’s amazing,” Mikleo agreed, nodding his head and walking up next to Sorey. He looked down at his hand and created a pool of water in his palm, watching as it turned to ice.

 

Sorey squatted and began to gather up some of the snow, beginning to form it into a large ball. Mikleo went a little further away to create a slightly smaller ball.

 

As the Shepherd watched his best friend creating the snowball, he couldn’t hold back a grin. It reminded him of their days in Elysia when they were too innocent to even know about the malevolence out in the world. Things were so much simpler back then.

 

One time, a blizzard came, and it snowed extra hard. Sorey and Mikleo were so enthusiastic about it when they woke up that they ran outside and created a small snowman in front of every single seraph’s house. The only way to get them to come back inside was for Gramps to tell them that their fingers would literally freeze off if they stayed outside for too long. Then they sat in front of Gramps’ fire and fell asleep on top of each other until it was time for dinner.

 

Things were a lot different now. Sorey had never felt so close, yet so far, to Mikleo. Before, he was never out of his reach. They had been fine without touching very much. Sometimes they slept in the same bed, but they found comfort in just being next to each other. Now, they never had time alone, and they were always preoccupied with something else. Sorey had never felt such an urge to hold him tight and never let him go.

 

“Sorey?”

 

Sorey snapped out of his trance by blinking a few times and looked up to see Mikleo standing up and holding the large snowball he had created. “Oh!” he exclaimed before quickly rolling his snowball around some more to make it a bit bigger.

 

“What were you thinking about?” Mikleo asked, placing his snowball on top of Sorey’s the wiping his palms against his pants.

 

“That time we made snowmen for everyone,” he answered. That wasn’t everything he was thinking about, but at least he wasn’t lying. “Let’s make the head.”

 

Mikleo smiled fondly at the memory and leaned down to help Sorey with the head. “That was a good day. I still remember how stressed Gramps got when he was trying to get us to go in. But everyone’s reactions to our snowmen was worth it.”

 

“You’re right! They all loved it. If it’s snowing there by the time we get there, maybe we could do it again!” Sorey suggested excitedly before picking up their finished snowball and placing it on top. “Dezel’s hat would look great on this.”

 

“You’re right,” Mikleo agreed, examining their creation. “But I’m not walking all the way back for that. Let’s find some sticks for the arms!”

 

Sorey nodded in determination, walking around the area with the water seraph until they found a good choice of sticks. They even found some pebbles for the snowman’s eyes, mouth, and buttons.

 

“We’ll have to use a stick for the nose too,” Sorey said. They didn’t have any carrots.

 

Once they had placed everything, they stepped back to look at the finished product with proud gazes. “We sure have improved on our snowman making skills,” Mikleo pointed out, thinking back to the sloppy slush they had created back in Elysia.

 

“Definitely.”

 

After a bit of time, Sorey’s eyes flicked from the snowman to Mikleo once again. He found out that Mikleo’s violet eyes stuck out even more when everything around them was a pure white. He sure had a habit of staring at him lately. This change hadn’t gone unnoticed by Mikleo, and the water seraph immediately blushed and turned his head away.

 

“Stop it,” he mumbled.

 

“Stop what?” Sorey breathed out, taking a step closer.

 

Mikleo crossed his arms over his chest and huffed out, “You know what!”

 

“Staring at you?” Sorey asked, poking a finger into the smaller male’s side and causing a quiet squeak to emit from his lips. “I can’t help it, you just look so cute all the time!”

 

“D-don’t say stuff like that!” Mikleo urged, snapping his head to look at him and smacking his hand away from his side.

 

“Why not?” Sorey asked, tilting his head to the side amusingly. “It’s the truth, after all.”

 

“It’s embarrassing!” Mikleo exclaimed, and Sorey couldn’t help but find awe in the way his nose had turned an even brighter red from his frustration.

 

“Yeah, yeah...” Sorey laughed, and he just couldn’t help himself. He reached out and pressed his fingers into Mikleo’s sides, tickling him up and down.

 

Mikleo shrieked and stepped back, attempting to fight back against Sorey’s fingers by grabbing on tightly to the other male’s wrists. However, none of this went the way he had planned.

 

In Mikleo’s attempt to get away, he had stepped back much further than he thought and ended up tripping over his own feet, causing the both of them to tumble straight into the snowman they had worked so hard on and crash into the piles of snow beneath them.

 

Mikleo landed on his back, his arms stretched out beside his head. Sorey caught himself with his hands and knees, positioned above Mikleo. They looked at each other for a few moments before bursting into laughter.

 

“Our snowman!” Mikleo laughed, his fingers curling up into fists and his eyes squeezing shut. Sorey found himself keeling over and pressing his face into Mikleo’s neck, the warmth of his laughter sending chills down Mikleo’s spine.

 

Once their laughter had subsided, they found themselves in a deep silence and worried that the other could hear how hard their heart was beating. They hadn’t been in this close of a proximity in such a long time.

 

“We should probably get back.” Mikleo muttered it out so quietly that his voice cracked, his eyes avoiding Sorey’s.

 

“Yeah,” Sorey agreed, letting out a shaky breath as he pushed himself off of the ground and held out a hand to help Mikleo up as well.

 

“Thanks,” he whispered, then they made their way to the bridge. They didn’t say another word until they got back inside Ladylake.

 

“Your cloak got all wet,” Mikleo pointed out with a frown as he looked down and saw how damp his clothes were from falling on the ground. Sorey’s clothes were mostly fine, only the knees of his pants affected.

 

“It’s okay. We can let it dry inside. Don’t worry about it,” Sorey reassured him, giving him a smile as he walked into the inn. “It’s not like I sleep in it.”

 

Sorey gave a wave to the person at the front desk before going down the hallway and holding open the door to their room for Mikleo.

 

“Huh? Everyone’s gone,” Mikleo said as he got inside, kicking off his shoes and stuffing his socks inside of them. “I wonder where they went.”

 

Sorey followed after him and also took off his shoes. He watched as Mikleo unclasped the Shepherd’s cloak and shrugged it off of his shoulders before going into the bathroom. “Oh! There’s a note!”

 

Sorey walked to the table in between the two beds and picked up the note. “They said they’re going out to dinner and that they’ll bring us some food back. They’ll be back in a couple of hours,” Sorey said, loud enough for Mikleo to hear him, before placing it back on the table.

 

“Okay,” Mikleo said, emerging from the bathroom and shivering slightly. The rest of his clothes were also wet, and it wasn’t helping him in warming up.

 

Sorey frowned. “You should take the rest of your clothes off too.”

 

“Huh?” Mikleo squealed, taking a step back. Cue the red cheeks once again.

 

“I-I mean...! They’re really wet, and you need to get warm,” Sorey said quickly, not wanting to give Mikleo the wrong idea.

 

“But what would I wear?” he asked frantically, eyes darting around the room to look for options that didn’t exist.

 

“You can wear my over-shirt. My clothes aren’t wet, and it should be big enough for you,” Sorey suggested, trying to keep his calm as he began to unbutton his shirt.

 

“But-“ Mikleo started to argue but couldn’t find anything to say. “Fine. Don’t look.”

 

Sorey nodded without a word and took his arms out of the sleeves of his shirt before placing it on Rose’s bed for Mikleo and turning his back to him. It took everything in him not to look.

 

“Okay,” Mikleo mumbled awkwardly, fumbling with his fingers. “You can look now.”

 

Sorey turned around, his eyes falling on Mikleo’s form. He almost lost his breath. “Wow.” This was even better than the view before.

 

The over-shirt fell down to Mikleo’s mid-thigh, and his fingers barely poked out of the sleeves. He had his arms crossed over his chest, but Sorey could tell that he had buttoned it all in the wrong places, probably in a sense of urgency to just get it done.

 

“Jeez, Mikleo...” Sorey said softly, chuckling as he stepped forward and moved Mikleo’s arms to the side. “You did it all wrong.”

 

“Wh-What are you doing?” Mikleo stuttered, noticing that Sorey had started to unbutton the shirt.

 

“Don’t worry. I’m just fixing them,” Sorey said gently, not wanting to make Mikleo uncomfortable.

 

“Okay, I guess...” Mikleo gave in, staring over at the wall as he felt Sorey’s knuckles brushing against his skin. “What’s taking so long?”

 

“Guess I’ll only button them halfway since you’re so impatient,” Sorey said with a smile, fixing the button in the middle and pulling his hands back.

 

“Whatever.”

 

“Your skin is still so cold,” Sorey pointed out with a frown, pressing the back of his hand against Mikleo’s cheek. He had noticed it while fixing the buttons, but he wanted to fully check. “You should get under the covers with me.”

 

“But... there’s two beds,” Mikleo forced out, glancing over at the bed Rose had been laying on when they left.

 

“Rose won’t want you in her bed, Mikleo,” Sorey told him, furrowing his brows in confusion at Mikleo’s hesitation. “We shared a bed in Elysia sometimes before I became the Shepherd. What’s wrong?”

 

“Nothing, it’s just... aren’t the beds a bit small?” Mikleo said quietly, his eyes stuck on the ground.

 

“Not any smaller than our old beds. Come on.” Sorey grabbed onto Mikleo’s wrist and tugged him forward a bit.

 

“But what if the others come back?” Mikleo looked up at him, shaking his head slightly to flick his bangs away from his eyes. “They’ll tease me.”

 

“They’ll tease both of us. Who cares?”

 

“Fine...” Mikleo mumbled. He didn’t really have anymore excuses, and he didn’t feel like arguing. Plus, it didn’t seem like the worst idea in the world. “Let me go hang my clothes over the bathtub first though.”

 

When Mikleo finished, Sorey was laying on his bed and had made enough room for Mikleo to join. The water seraph inhaled a bit before making his way over to him and sliding in with his back to him. He didn’t think he could stay sane if he had to look Sorey in the eyes right now.

 

Sorey placed the covers over him and gently moved his arms around Mikleo’s waist. “Is this okay?” he asked quietly.

 

Mikleo tensed up at first, which caused Sorey to start to remove his arms, but Mikleo quickly grabbed onto them and held them in place before scooting himself up against Sorey’s chest and allowing himself to relax. “It’s okay.”

 

“Are you sure?” Sorey asked again, tightening his arms around him and resting his chin on top of Mikleo’s head.

 

“Yeah,” Mikleo said with a shaky breath, allowing his eyes to flutter closed. “You’re warm.”

 

“And you’re cold,” Sorey chuckled, searching for Mikleo’s hands and entwining their fingers. He wanted to warm him up as much as possible.

 

Mikleo hummed and let himself relax. “I’ve been meaning to ask for awhile now... are you okay?”

 

“What do you mean?” Sorey asked, closing his eyes as well and pondering over the question.

 

“A lot has changed. We’ve changed,” Mikleo said softly, thinking about the events that had passed since they left Elysia. “You couldn’t save everyone. We lost Dezel. But that’s okay. You saved a lot of other people as well.”

 

“I think I’m okay,” Sorey replied. Everything has happened so fast. He almost felt like everything was lost after everything with Dezel happened. He almost wanted to give up. But after talking with Mikleo and everyone else in Pendrago and continuing on his journey, the community around him helped to pick him back up. He found hope again. “You guys really help with that.”

 

“I’m glad, but... is it lonely? Being the Shepherd, I mean...”

 

“It was at first,” Sorey answered. “I looked around, and all of the other humans either thought I was some kind of monster or they looked at me as a hero or a saint and like I was something that could save them all. It’s a lot of pressure. You can’t really build friendships with people who feel like they’re beneath you, even though I’m not so different.”

 

Mikleo stayed silent.

 

“But I’ve made lots of friends too. Alisha, Rose, Lailah, Edna, Dezel, Zaveid... Sergei too. They’re all so important to me, and so are you. You’ve always been here. I look around, and I see so many people who will always have my back, and I can trust them. It’s hard to believe that I ever felt so lonely,” Sorey vented, giving Mikleo a small squeeze. “Especially when I have you. You stayed right by me this whole time. I’m not sure what I’d do if I ever lost you.”

 

Mikleo opened his eyes and turned around in Sorey’s arms to face him, causing Sorey’s eyes to open as well. “You won’t ever lose me, Sorey. I’ll always be by your side. Forever,” he said confidently, wrapping his fingers around Sorey’s black shirt as his violet eyes met green. “I swear.”

 

“I know,” Sorey replied with a smile, tugging Mikleo closer and wrapping his arms around his shoulders. “I wouldn’t let you leave me anyways.”

 

“Good,” Mikleo said softly, continuing to stare up at him and wrapping his arms around Sorey’s waist.

 

They had nothing more to say after that, but their eyes never left each other’s. Suddenly, the cold they had felt from being outside had disappeared altogether, and all they felt was the heat of each other’s skin. Mikleo felt like his heart couldn’t take anymore today.

 

Sorey’s face turned serious and he raised a hand to press it softly against Mikleo’s cheek. “You know I love you, right?”

 

Mikleo’s heart stopped, and he gulped. Sorey hadn’t said that since Mikleo revealed his true name to him so many years ago. They always felt like confessing it once was enough, but it was music to his ears. “Yes,” he whispered, placing a hand on Sorey’s.

 

Sorey couldn’t resist it anymore and leaned forward, pressing his lips softly to Mikleo’s in a short but sweet kiss. They had never done this before, and he couldn’t believe they had waited so long.

 

Mikleo gasped as Sorey pulled away, his cheeks pink, but he didn’t look away. “Oh...” he breathed, licking his lips. “Why haven’t we done that before?”

 

“I don’t know,” Sorey admitted, his cheeks turning a bit pink as well. “But I’m going to do it again.”

 

With that, Sorey pulled Mikleo even closer and pressed his lips to his in a longer kiss this time. It was still as gentle and sweet as the first one, but now they were both participating. Mikleo wrapped his fingers around Sorey’s wrist tightly and squeezed his eyes shut, their lips moving together in perfect unison. His other hand gripped onto Sorey’s shirt in an urge to pull him closer.

 

Sorey pulled away once again and pressed his head against Mikleo’s forehead, feeling the coldness of his circlet against his skin. “Wow.”

 

“You’ve said that three times today,” Mikleo pointed out with a soft laugh, feeling very amused.

 

“Well, there’s been a lot of things to say it about,” Sorey replied with a soft grin before pulling back to pull off Mikleo’s circlet and place it on the nightstand. Mikleo did the same with his earrings.

 

Mikleo pressed his face into Sorey’s neck before slotting his legs in between the other’s. “I love you too. I didn’t say it back before.”

 

“I know,” Sorey told him, hugging him tighter and pressing a kiss against his hair.

 

The two of them ended up falling asleep in each other’s arms, and when everyone else returned, they almost fell over in shock. Except for Edna and Zaveid. They were already planning their jokes.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading! <3 i really appreciate it! now go check out all of the other sormik week stuff!


End file.
